Temperamental

1	Five Fathoms 6:24
2	Low Tide of the Night 4:45
3	Blame 6:18
4	Hatfield 1980 5:12
5	Temperamental 5:20
6	Compression 7:11
7	Downhill Racer 3:49
8	Lullaby of Clubland 5:30
9	No Difference 4:26
10	The Future of the Future (Stay Gold) / Deep Dish 7:52

Barnes & Noble

"I walk the city late at night" are the first words on EBTG's TEMPERAMENTAL, and the song continues, "I want to be the things I see." These are not the usual sentiments of new parents in their mid 30s. Of course, Everything But the Girl's Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt probably aren't your average parents. Instead of cocooning, Thorn and Watt are investing themselves more deeply in urban rhythms, picking up steam from their 1996 release, WALKING WOUNDED. In contrast to the drum-'n'- bass chatter that underpinned several tracks on WALKING, the strident yet muffled beats and galloping tempos of deep house are the foundation for much of TEMPERAMENTAL. The lyrics have changed as well. Instead of conveying a story, they are more likely to flesh out aspects of a mood. "Low Tide of the Night" works like a series of snapshots, starting with this familiar scene: "I've been avoiding things/ The phone rings/ [pause]/ I use the answerphone." EBTG have shifted from the elegantly austere music of the '80s to the visceral energy of DJ music, and they've adapted their songwriting to match. In doing so, they're making urban music that is also urbane. Martin Johnson

All Music Guide

Everything but the Girl's resurrection as a sophisticated electronica outfit may have been unpredictable, but it certainly revitalized the duo's music. Prior to 1996's Walking Wounded, Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn had taken their charming, jazzy acoustic pop as far as it could go. Adding electronica, primarily drum'n'bass and trip-hop, to the equation broke their potential wide open, as the captivating, seductive Walking Wounded proved. It was such a drastic, fulfilling departure that it did raise the question of where they go from here; its 1999 sequel, Temperamental, answers that by offering more of the same, except just a little different. Temperamental tempers the lightly skittering drum'n'bass and eliminates trip-hop, yet retains the same feel as Walking Wounded. House music -- everything from classic '80s house to contemporary house -- serves as the musical foundation, which actually opens the doors for slight jazzy inflections, along with long, hypnotizing instrumental passages (most notably on "Compression"). Weirdly, it also serves as a good setting for a batch of songs that are essentially in the singer/songwriter vein. In fact, there aren't as many clear pop hooks here as there were on Walking. "Five Fathoms," "Tempermental," and a couple of other tracks work as singles, but the album is a more of a meditative, reflective piece, like a singer/songwriter album -- except it's dressed in sultry, evocative electronic dance music. That means, of course, that Temperamental isn't all that different than its predecessor, but its blend of house, electronica, pop, jazz, and folk is equally satisfying as that landmark album. Stephen Thomas Erlewine